| Advertisement |
The fundamental principles of TQM focus on a process of continuous improvement which enhances the satisfaction of customer requirements by changing the attitude of the workforce. The reduction of waste is made implicit in each worker’s task. This suggests the elimination of all non-value-adding processes, processes which include all control functions – monitoring, inspecting, progress chasing, even auditing – which would now be replaced by self-auditing as part of the change in corporate culture. Such extreme expectations are unrealistic. A control function, properly defined, is essential and can contribute to the achievement of TQM objectives.
The development of TQM provides a vehicle for the accounting function to achieve control, continuous improvement and maximum efficiency by ensuring that all of the processes carried out by that function are both in control and capable. Such movements will have a dramatic effect on the accounting function and may well redefine the audit function. The basic requirement of accounting control is that a process is capable of meeting customer requirements, whether they are those of the directors, the shareholders, or the law.
Techniques which have historically been used to achieve this control include procedures and audit, but these have major flaws. If we are not appropriately focused, it is possible that the process is never going to be capable of meeting customer requirements, no matter how complex the levels of audit or procedure adopted. Further, there will be no focus for the documentation of flaws and their subsequent reversal.
Qualitative and non-financial data, vital for control, may not be subject to the same strict standards of measurement as financial and technical data. Their role in the quality programme may, therefore, be underestimated. Documentation of the activities to be performed in the accounting function is an essential first step in identifying the dimensions of processes and the interrelationships between tasks, Table 2 details eight basic processes which may be identified in the accounting function, each covering multiple activities and crossing task boundries.
A narrow control function is apparent in each process, but this is effectively just the checking or audit component of controllership. The controllership function interacts with the TQM process to impact upon the other six dimensions to provide timely and relevant information to decision-makers and to monitor compliance with corporate expectations where policies, procedures, ethical behaviour and professional conduct are concerned. The quality manual is usually the major document controlling the implementation of the quality process. It defines the basic philosophy of the organisation, the structure and responsibilities of managers and departments and the relationship between them. It also contains the methods to be used to ensure quality, including the composition of teams, and the audit procedures to be adopted.
The definition of the process, inputs and outputs gives a framework for the writing of procedures and standard methods while also providing a focus for improvement opportunities. Underpinning both is a control and audit process, defining the way that the system is to be checked.
For every process within the accounting organisation, a policy and procedure is established in accordance with industry best practice and communicated throughout the organisation. Its objective is to satisfy customer requirements and to identify improvement opportunities which allow the continuous extention of the customer service provided. The writing of procedures and standard methods is a fundamental step in pursuing excellence of process. Procedures are concerned with the properties of the system that we are trying to influence (controlled parameters). Standard working methods are concerned with the process variables that are being manipulated in order to influence the system (control points). Thus, if we want to control the water level in a bath, the level is the controlled parameter, and the tap and plug are the control points.
0 comments: